Sol 6.1

  1. وَلّى وَلَم يَقضِ مِن أَحبابِهِ وَطراً

    لَمّا دَعاهُ مُنادي الشَوق وَلا وزَرا

    He departed without satisfying his longing for his loved ones,

    when longing's herald called him, and there was no refuge.

  2. قَد كانَ يَكذِب أَخبار النَوى أَبَداً

    فالآن صَدَّق خَبَر الرِحلَة الخَبَرا

    He had always disbelieved the reports of separation;

    now the news of departure has proved the report true.

  3. كَم عاهَدَ الدَمع لا يُغري بجريت

    هِ الواشي فَلَمّا استَقَلَّت ظَعنَهُم غَدرا

    How often he made his tears pledge not to incite, by their flowing,

    the slanderer; yet when their litters set out, the tears broke faith.

  4. وَلِلمُحِبِّ شَهيد غير مكتتمٍ

    مِن مقلتيه أَسَرَّ الحُبَّ أَو جَهرا

    The lover has a witness that cannot be concealed,

    coming from his two eyes, whether he hides love or declares it.

  5. وَفي الهَوادِجِ ريم لَو عصرت ضَحىً

    ماء النُضارَةِ مِن خَدَّيهِ لا نعصرا

    And in the howdahs is a gazelle: if at forenoon you pressed

    the moisture of freshness from her cheeks, it would be wrung out.

  6. هَيفاء فاتِرَة الأَلحاظ مُقلَتِها

    وَأقتُل اللَحظ للعشاق ما فَتَرا

    A slender-waisted beauty, her eye languid in its glances;

    and the deadliest glance for lovers is the languid one.

  7. إِن كُنتَ مِمَّن لَهُ في نَفسِهِ أَربٌ

    فامنَع جُفونك يَوم المَوقف النَظَرا

    If you are one who has any care for his own life,

    keep your eyelids from looking on the day of the Standing.

  8. مَرَّت بِنافيه أَعرابيَّة فتنت

    بِالحُسنِ مَن حَجَّ بيت اللَهِ وَاِعتَمَرا

    A Bedouin woman passed us there, bewitching

    with her beauty all who made the pilgrimage to God's House and the lesser pilgrimage.

  9. تَرمي الحَجيج فَتصميهم وَيرشقها

    راميهمُ فَيولّي سَهمَه هَدرا

    She shoots the pilgrims dead; whoever shoots at her

    from among their archers turns away, his arrow wasted.

  10. تَرمي الجِمارَ فَتُذكي في قُلوبِهِم

    جَمراً تَكون لَهُ أَنفاسهم شَررا

    She throws the ritual pebbles, kindling in their hearts

    embers whose sparks are their breaths.

  11. رَمَتكَ واِستَتَرَت في خَدرِها وَكَذا

    القَنّاص إِن رامَ رَميَ الأبدِ اِستَتَرا

    She shot you, then hid within her curtained chamber; so too

    the hunter hides when he means to shoot wild game.

  12. فَرُبَّ صبٍّ تَمَنّى أَنَّهُ حَجر

    في البَيتِ حينَ أَكَبَّت تَلثم الحَجرا

    Many a lovesick man wished he were a stone

    in the House when she bent down to kiss the Stone.

  13. إِنَّ الحِجاز سَقاها اللَهُ غادِيَة

    أَرض مولدة في الأَعيُن الحَورا

    The Hijaz—may God water it with morning rain—

    is a land that gives eyes their lovely contrast of black and white.

  14. سَل اللَياليَ هَل أَعطى القِياد وَهَل

    جَرَّدن مِنّيَ الأَصارِما ذَكَرا

    Ask the nights whether the reins were ever yielded, and whether

    they drew from me anything but a manly sword—

  15. عَضباً يَزينك بَينَ القَومِ مَلبَسِهِ

    وَإِن ضربت بِهِ في معرك بَترا

    keen-edged, whose wearing adorns you among men,

    and which cleaves when you strike with it in battle.

  16. كُن مِثلِ دَهرِكَ إِن حارَبتَهُ أَبَداً

    إِن يَستَقِم فاستَقِم واعثُر إِذا عَثَرا

    Always match your age when you contend with it:

    if it is upright, be upright; stumble when it stumbles.

  17. وَإِن صَفا لَكَ لَون الدهر فاصفِ لَهُ

    وَإِن تلوَّن أَلواناً فَكُن نَمِرا

    And if time's hue is clear for you, be clear toward it;

    and if it takes on many colors, become a leopard.

  18. واجعَل أَبا طاهِر مِن كُلِّ نائِبَةٍ

    جاراً تَجِدهُ مِنَ الأَيام مُنتَصِرا

    And take Abu Tahir, against every calamity,

    as your protector: you will find him victorious over the days.

  19. لا تَطلُبِ الجودَ إِلّا مِن أَنامِلِهِ

    وَكَيفَ يُطلَبُ بَعدَ الرؤيَة الأَثَرا

    Seek generosity only from his fingertips;

    why seek a trace after seeing with your own eyes?

  20. أَغر لو لمست كَفّاه جَلمدة

    صَلداً لأنبع في أَقطارِها نَهَرا

    A radiant man: if his hands touched a boulder,

    solid and hard, he would make a river spring from its sides.

  21. تعودت كفّه بَذل النَوال فَلَو

    أَرادَ تَحويلها عَن ذاكَ ما قَدِرا

    His hand has grown accustomed to bestowing gifts, so if

    he wished to turn it from that, he could not.

  22. فَقَد وصلت بآمالي إِلى مَلِكٍ

    تَعنو المُلوك لَهُ فَضلاً عَن الأَمرا

    For I have brought my hopes to a king

    before whom kings bow, let alone princes.

  23. لأَنَّ راحَتَهُ بَحرٌ فَلَيسَ لَها

    رَدٌّ ومن ذا يَرُدُّ البَحر إِن زَجَرا

    For his palm is a sea, and there is no

    repelling it; who can turn the sea back by rebuking it?

  24. بَحرٌ وَلَكِنَّهُ صافٍ موارِده

    والبحر تَلقى لديه الصَفوَ وَالكَدَرا

    A sea, yet clear are all its watering places;

    whereas the sea itself holds both clarity and murk.

  25. لا تُنكرَنَّ نفيساً مِن مَواهِبهِ

    فالبَحر مِن شأنِهِ أَن يَلفُظَ الدُرَرا

    Do not find any precious gift of his strange:

    it is the sea's nature to cast up pearls.

  26. ينبيك عَن جود كفَّيه تبَسُّمه

    وَالبَرق عادَته أَن يَقدُم المَطَرا

    His smile tells you of the generosity of his hands;

    lightning, by its nature, precedes the rain.

  27. قَد وافَقَ الفلك الدَوّار بغيته

    وَحالَف النَصر وَالتأييد وَالظَفرا

    The revolving sphere has accorded with his desire,

    and he is allied with victory, support, and triumph.

  28. لَو لَم يَفِد سفري ذا غير رؤيَته

    لَكُنتُ أَربحَ مِن فَوقَ الثَرى سَفَرا

    Had this journey of mine brought nothing but the sight of him,

    I would be the most richly rewarded traveler upon the earth.

  29. تَعنو لأبلَجَ طلق فَوقَ غُرَّتِهِ

    تاج مِنَ النور يَعلوهُ إِذا سَفَرا

    You bow before a radiant, open-faced man, above whose brow

    a crown of light rises when he unveils his face.

  30. إِذا تَبَدّى نَهاراً خلت غُرَّتُهُ

    شَمساً وَإِن لاحَ لَيلاً خلته قَمَرا

    If he appears by day, you would think his brow

    a sun; if he shines by night, you would think him a moon.

  31. مَلكٌ إِذا عِشتُ مختَصّاً بَحَضرتِهِ

    يَوماً عدلتُ بِهِ مِن عيشَتي عُمُرا

    A king: if I lived especially favored in his presence

    for one day, I would reckon it a lifetime of living.

  32. جيوشه زمراً غاراته ظفراً

    أَنضارِهِ غرراً أَتباعه أَمرا

    His armies are throngs; his raids are victories;

    his gold is choice treasure; his followers are princes.

  33. تعدي السُيوف بِيُمناهُ صَرامته

    فَلو أَشارَ بِنابي الشَفرَتين برا

    His sharp resolve passes into the swords in his right hand;

    if he gestured with a blade blunt on both edges, it would cleave.

  34. تلقى الكَهام إِذا ما كانَ حامِلَهُ

    صِمصامَةً ذكراً صِمصامَةٌ ذكرا

    You find the blunt sword—if its bearer is

    a keen, manly blade—to be a keen, manly blade itself.

  35. قَد زادَ شِعريَ حسناً أَنَّني رَجُل

    نظمت من وصفه في الشعر ما نُثِرا

    My poetry has gained in beauty because I am a man

    who strung into verse what lay scattered of his description.

  36. فَكانَ شِعريَ سلكاً في فَضائِلِهِ

    نطمتُهُنَّ وَكانَت فَوقه دُرَرا

    Thus my poetry became a thread for his virtues;

    I strung them on it, and they were pearls upon it.

  37. يَجُلُّ جواداً سِواهُ عِندَنا فَإِذا

    قِسنا بِهِ شُعبَةً مِن جودِهِ قَصرا

    Another generous man seems great to us; yet when

    we compare him with one branch of the king's bounty, he falls short.

  38. إِذا غَدا المدح في وَصفِ امرىءٍ غُرَراً

    غَدَت مَناقِبُهُ في مَدحِهِ غُرَرا

    If praise is a bright adornment in describing a man,

    his virtues are the bright adornments of his praise.

  39. قَد جَلَّ جودك قَدراً بَل عَلا شَرَفاً

    مِن أَن تُقاسَ إِلى الأَشباه وَالنُظرا

    Your generosity is too great in worth—indeed, too high in honor—

    to be measured against counterparts and peers.

  40. أَقَلُّ قدرك أَن تدعى الأَميرُ كَما

    أَقَلُّ قَدريَ أَن أَدعى مِن الشُعَرا

    To be called 'prince' is the least of your rank, just as

    to be counted among poets is the least of mine.

  41. فليهن دجلة إِنَّ البحر جاورها

    وَليَسحَبِ القصر ذيلَ التيه إِن قدرا

    Let the Tigris rejoice that the sea has become its neighbor,

    and let the palace trail its skirt of pride, if it can.

  42. فالقَصر قَد حاطَه بَحران دجلته

    بَحرٌ وَكَفَّكَ بَحر يَقذِف الدُرَرا

    For two seas surround the palace: its Tigris

    is one sea, and your palm another, casting forth pearls.

  43. إِن كُنتَ أَشرَعتَ باباً أَو فَتَحتَ فَكَم

    فَتَحتَ في المَجدِ باباً يُدهِشُ البَشرا

    If you have thrown open a door or opened one, how many

    doors of glory have you opened that astonish mankind!

  44. وَغير مُستَنكِر ذا في علاك وَلَو

    كانَ المَساميرُ مِنهُ أَنجماً زهرا

    Nor is this surprising in your lofty station, even if

    its nails were shining stars.

  45. فَأسعَد بِهِ فَلَو أَنَّ الدَهر أَنصَفَهُ

    لَأُلبِسَت حافَتاهُ الشَمس وَالقَمَرا

    May you enjoy it! Had time dealt justly with it,

    its two edges would have been clothed with the sun and moon.

  46. لَو أَنَّ ذا العَرشِ لَم يَختِم نُبوَّتِهِ

    حَتماً لأَنزَلَ في تَفضيلك السُوَرا

    Had the Lord of the Throne not sealed prophecy

    irrevocably, He would have revealed surahs proclaiming your preeminence.

  47. قَضى الإِلَهُ لَكَ الحُسنى وَقَدَّرَها

    ومن يَردُّ قَضاء اللَهِ وَالقَدَرا

    God has decreed the best for you and ordained it;

    and who can turn back God's decree and destiny?

  48. كَم جُبتُ نَحو عُبيد اللَه مِن بَلَدٍ

    لَولاهُ لَم أَعتَسِفهُ طالَ أَم قَصُرا

    How many a land I crossed on my way to Ubayd Allah,

    which, but for him, I would not have braved, long or short!

  49. وَلَم تَكُن آمِدٌ وَاللَهُ يَحرُسُها

    داري وَلَم تَكُ خَيلي تألَف الحَضَرا

    Nor was Amid—may God guard it—

    my home, nor were my horses accustomed to settled life.

  50. وَكَم تَعَسَّفت في قَصديه مِن خَطَرٍ

    لا يبلغ المَجدَ مَن لا يَركَبُ الخَطَرا

    How many dangers I braved in seeking him!

    No one reaches glory who does not ride into danger.

  51. لَو أَنَّهُ جاد بِالدُنيا بأَجمَعِها

    لسائل لاستَحى مِن ذاكَ واِعتَذَرا

    If he bestowed the world in its entirety

    upon a petitioner, he would feel ashamed of that and apologize.

  52. وَمَن يَكُن مثله في بَعدِ هِمَّتِهِ

    يَرى العَظيم مِنَ الأَشياءِ مُحتَقَرا

    Whoever is like him in the reach of his ambition

    considers the greatest things contemptibly small.

  53. نَفديهِ ما أَشرَقَت شَمسُ النَهارِ ضُحىً

    وَجَنَّ لَيلٌ وَلاحَ الصُبحُ فاِنفَجَرا

    We would ransom him as long as the sun of day shines at forenoon,

    and night falls, and dawn appears and bursts forth.